33 posts from October 2016

Coloring books are all the rage now and I love creating a card background to color. I began by stamping various Halloween images onto white cardstock and coloring them with colored pencils.

I adhered the colored card front to a licorice cardstock layer and die cut the word "happy" using the "Happy Birthday Tiles" die set. I cut out the word twice, once from white cardstock and the other from licorice cardstock. Next, I glued the licorice tiles to a strip of green cardstock and inserted the letters from the white cardstock into the licorice tiles. I stamped and embossed the word "Halloween" under the word "Happy" and glued this to the card front. I finished up by tying a piece of twine around the card front and adhering this to a white card base.

Other than the time it takes to color the images, it is a fairly quick card to make.

Hello Memory Box friends. Penny here today with a gorgeous wedding card. December weddings are just around the corner, so why not make something super special for the happy couple. This interlocking card is so unique and really easy to pull together.

On the short ends, place the Fancy Bow Closer along the first scored line. (Bow section should be pointing towards the cardstock/watercolor paper edge).

NOTE: I used the tiny notch left behind from cutting the die apart as my guide for getting the bows to line up evenly. I placed the tiny notch at the top of my cardstock and secured the die with washi tape before die cutting.

This is an open view of my card before latching the two sides together.

It's already October 29th but I just had to use Swirling Ghosts - peeping out from behind a Square Bump Border - one more time before the big day. The Happy Birthday Tiles were waiting to be used too - so why not add a label-maker "BOO!" and transform it into a Halloween greeting? Hi, Jean Okimoto here tonight, with a quick card for the kids.

Cut the edge of a side-folded orange A2 card with the Square Bump Border.

Dry-emboss the "HAPPY" and "DAY" portions of Happy Birthday Tiles using the plates and embossing mat required for your machine. Print "BOO!" on a labelmaker.

Cut five Swirling Ghosts from white cardstock and attach scraps of black cardstock behind them for eyes.

Create an assortment of bright accents by attaching several strips of washi tape to white cardstock and diecutting Honeycomb Background. Place the little hexagons on a scrap of felt and burnish them with the large end of a stylus to add a little dimension.

Attach everything to the card - use foam dots for the big ghost on the right. Add tiny black sequins.

There are so many ways to use the new Square Bump Borders - and the Circle Bump Borders - to add interesting layers and dimension to your cards. Hope you've enjoyed the Halloween ideas presented by our Design Team. We've loved sharing them with you!

A glittered Swift Reindeer prances through the Dancing Snowflake Square on a quick winter card today...let's get started! Hi, Jean Okimoto here, on a very cold rainy day requiring a trio of pretty colors...and glitter.

Cut Dancing Snowflake Square from watercolor paper and leave it in the die.

Daub the open areas with Imagine Crafts Brilliance Pearlescent Jade, Lime and Lavender to highlight the snowflakes. They're bright, shimmery and perfect for stenciling. Let the inks dry while you clean the die with a damp washcloth.

Love how the snowflakes near the center aren't inked and won't visually compete with the deer - and how the outer areas receive the pearlescent inks and create a nice frame for your design. Having features like this designed into the die make life so much easier!

Cut Swift Reindeer from silver glitter cardstock.

Attach adhesive label paper or a sticker sheet to aqua felt and cut two of the scarf portion again. The paper backing stabilizes the felt, keeps nice crisp edges and prevents glues from soaking thru the diecut.

Happy Friday, everyone! It's finally feeling like Fall here in Southern California ... been a long time coming!!

The Arpeggio Snowflake die is so beautiful and delicate, and although most of it is covered, it made a wonderful base for the poinsettia. I have some other ideas for this snowflake which I may use in a future post, so stay tuned!

The background on the 5" x 4" gray piece of card stock was created using two of the solid snowflakes from the Making Spirits Bright clear stamp set. They were inked with Versamark ink and stamped randomly, then embossed with clear embossing powder for a tone-on-tone look. The bottom layer of the poinsettia was created by first stamping one of the snowflake stamps from the Poinsettia Surprise clear stamp set in Versamark ink and embossing with white embossing powder. The larger plain poinsettia die was lined up over the stamped image and die cut. Hickory Smoke Distress Ink was very lightly sponged over the embossed petals to bring out the design. The petals were then shaped for dimension.

The smaller of the two poinsettias was also cut from white card stock, spritzed with water on the back and then shaped and pinched. Once dry, this was layered onto the embossed petals, offsetting them slightly. Green seed beads were adhered to the center. The snowflake was adhered first to the gray card stock, and the assembled poinsettia was then adhered to that. The three sprigs from the Garland Greenery set were die cut from green card stock and arranged as shown. The Sketchbook Joy was cut three times from white card stock and stacked for dimension, and adhered as shown. The entire assembled piece was then adhered to the white A2 card base using foam tape.

The versatile Making Spirits Bright die and stamp sets are here again - with the beautiful Dancing Snowflake Oval this time. I love how easy it is to combine our dies and stamps and get the most from our stash of great designs! Jean Okimoto here tonight - with more of my shimmery trees, in a different setting.

OK, I got a bit carried away - stamping and diecutting way more Making Spirits Bright trees that I needed! Dave Brethauer - who owns Memory Box along with his sweet wife Monica - is such a design perfectionist that everything just works - and that makes it so easy to create cards to share with you.

Cut Dancing Snowflake Oval from white cardstock - leave it in the die. Dry-emboss the oval for extra dimension using the plates and embossing mat required for your machine.

All of these great stamps are from the Making Spirits Bright clear set. Stamp the trees with Imagine Crafts Brilliance Pearlescent Orange, Coral and Orchid. Dry the ink, then diecut them. Diecut the trees again from scraps of watercolor paper and attach them for added dimension.

Stamp "let it snow" with Delicata Celestial Copper. I'm loving that shade for holiday colors - and it's great for stamping and inking reindeer too. Here's how it looks with Impress' exclusive holiday die from Memory Box.

Back to tonight's card...heat-set the ink, then diecut the greeting with the smallest Stitched Square Layer. It's the perfect size!

Confession here...in a previous life I wondered why I needed square and rectangle dies when they're so easy to cut with a paper trimmer. Trimming them perfectly is not that easy - especially when my aging eyes and hands don't work as well as they used to. Now I rarely cut anything other than the card itself with a paper trimmer. Diecutting always guarantees straight edges and perfect angles and makes assembling the card a lot easier when everything lines up!

Back to the card - again. Attach everything to a side-folded A2 card of textured white cardstock. Use foam dots for the tree on the right and the right side of the greeting. Add pale pink sequins.

Thanks very much for visiting our blog...hope you find our ideas, techniques and designs inspiring and interesting. See you again on Saturday - hope you won't be tired of me after that!

Snowflake Spectacle's splashy design creates a frosty contrast against the stately trees from the Making Spirits Bright Stamp and Die Sets. Hi, Jean Okimoto here, with warm winter wishes in pearlescent shades of coral, orchid and orange. It's usually tiny snowflakes and big trees on a Christmas card - so let's reverse it with supersized snowflakes and small trees!

Cut Snowflake Spectacle from white cardstock - allow extra space to attach the trees. Attach the watercolored paper behind the diecut and cut them with the 5" x 3-¾" Stitched Rectangle Trimmings die. You may need to use the Metal Adapter Plate to cut through both layers.

Stamp the trees - from the Making Spirits Bright clear stamp set - with Brilliance Pearlescent Coral and Pearlescent Orchid. Dry the inks, then cut them with the coordinating dies from the Making Spirits Bright die set. Cut two extra layers of both trees from white cardstock scraps and layer them for dimension.

Today I am happy to share a "thankful" card featuring the beautiful Enchanted Deer Collage die and an old favorite technique--shaving cream marbling.

I think I played with this technique back in the days of planning classes as a stamp store owner...Ok, maybe it was when I was a Girl Scout...anyway, it's always fun since everyone's project turns out differently and it's inexpensive with great results---sometimes surprisingly so.

On today's card I am die cutting into the marbled paper instead of using it as a background panel as it's commonly used.

Here's a step-by-step of my marbling experience---and don't think it wasn't fun keeping the shaving cream off my camera while shooting the steps! No phone calls please during this process.

Shake then squirt aerosol shave cream (unscented and not gel) into a shallow container.

Blend ink drops, as little or as much as you like. The more you blend the inks, the smaller and more muted the marbling patterns. I used a plastic pickle fork for my blending tool (because I always have pickle forks handy).

Place card stock face down onto inky shave cream, press to make contact in all areas of paper.

Lift off or slide paper off cream, set face up on washable surface, then remove all cream. I used a window squeegy and it all came off in one swipe.

Now, repeat with another sheet of card stock--make lots!

You can add more inks and blend again--experiment! Remember your color combinations.

Air dry or use a heat tool to dry throughly before die cutting.

Easy clean up in the sink with plain water.

Buy more shaving cream and keep playing. My can of shaving cream cost only $1.39 (that's a lot of fun for the money) Start over and use different color palettes.

To finish the card, I die cut the Enchanted Deer Collage into the center area, rounded the corners, then mounted it onto a top-fold brown notecard and added the sentiment strip. Because the marbling can give a very busy look, I kept the rest of the card simple. I can make about 10 more cards with the marbled papers I now have on hand after playing with different colors and blending techniques---it's addicting and so fun!

Here's a collection of supplies I posted earlier. Fawn'd Friends is perfectly sized and shaped for shaker cards, gift tags and placecards if you set a formal table for the holidays. You'll love it for Christmas...and again for Valentines' Day. View more Memory Box - and Poppystamps - dies at Impress online.

Cut the 3-¼" x 4-½" Stitched Rectangle Trimming on the smoother side of watercolor paper - save the delicate outer "frame." Cut the 4" x 2-¾" Stitched Rectangle Trimming from the previously-cut rectangle. Watercolor the center portion - in a loose, irregular block - with teal and aqua Peerless Watercollors. Paint a scrap of watercolor paper with the same Peerless shades to diecut color-matched Snow Burst snowflakes for accents. Set the papers aside to dry.

Cut Fawn'd Friends from watercolor paper and trim it to about 3" x 2-¼". Mask the adjacent areas with a Post-It note and daub Delicata Celestial Copper onto the deer. Heat-set the ink.

I love how the Stitched Rectangle Trimming creates a delicate frame to highlight the winter scene. It's a great set of 8 dies - each die cuts a rectangle and a frame. They're also perfectly proportioned for layers and backgrounds on A-2 and A-6 cards.